The key person in the outrage in the Magazine Beach area of the Charles River in Cambridge, MA, gave his plans for the next step on January 30, 2013. He is the key manager of the Department of Conservation and Recreation for Magazine Beach, R. Corsi.

A key factor in the current outrage is years of lies by DCR including but not necessarily limited to R. Corsi that they had “no intention” to do “harm” to the Charles River White Geese.

Corsi wants to extend the last 13 years of outrage westerly from Magazine Beach to the area of the hill to the west of the playing fields and further. His plans would bring one step closer the destruction of hundreds of excellent trees between the Magazine Beach playing fields and the Longfellow Bridge, the third bridge (counting the BU Bridge) east of those playing fields.

Corsi wants to extend the routine dumping of poisons on the banks of the Charles River to at least that hill and, almost certainly, further. Corsi wants to destroy the little parking lot for little guys picnicing on that hill. This parking is at the foot of Magazine Street in Cambridge. Corsi wants to build a small vehicle highway connecting the small vehicle highway installed in Magazine Beach’s playing fields to the environmental outrage which are the plans for the three bridges west of the playing fields. This highway would extend to the east and destroy all those trees.

Corsi (omitting as much fine print as is feasible) calls these goals non negotiable.

The meeting started with the Cambridge Machine stating that it intended to ram through the meeting the meeting’s blessings of Corsi’s plans. Discussion of the situation resulted in action being deferred until the next meeting.

Given 38 years of experience with various fronts of the Cambridge Machine, I am highly skeptical of what will be done by the Cambridge Machine and its front organization on this matter.

Wednesday night, January 30, 2013, the “Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association” hosted R. Corsi of the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Corsi is the one individual most personally responsible for the outrage inflicted on Magazine Beach and the Charles River White Geese over the past 13 years.

He was presented by the woman who has spent the last year or so claiming to be fighting for Magazine Beach. She and the rest of the organization does not want to know about the last 13 years. They do want to update a former bath house on the hill west of the playing field outrage.

She has commented that it is a waste of time fighting to undo the outrages of the last 13 years. My translation of her excuse is that the Cambridge City Council is too irresponsible to undo the terrible things they have done. Her approach is to praise people worthy of condemnation in the hope that praise for irresponsible behavior will somehow persuade belligerently irresponsible people to become decent human beings. This is a normal pitch from the Cambridge Machine.

Her explanation of the plans to destroy the parking area for the picnic area around the bath house (at the foot of Magazine Street) has been that they do not have the money yet, so do not worry about it. The normal translation is that they then get the money, destroy and say it is too late to undo the destruction, but they are so sorry.

She and the group have exactly fit the Cambridge Machine mold. They have stood for three things:

A. Improve the bathhouse on top of the hill west of the playing fields,

B. Ignore the plans to destroy the parking lot, and

C. Ignore 13 years of irresponsible behavior, all the time loudly proclaiming concern for everything.

In the meeting, a group associated with her gave the impression they do not want the parking lot destroyed because of its importance to the little guy.

She introduced Corsi saying that she intended to present a motion which sounded like it would bless his efforts.

2. Corsi’s presentation.

Corsi’s explanation for the bizarre wall of introduced bushes was that they got a little bigger than he expected.

Corsi in the past has repeatedly claimed “no intention” to harm the Charles River White Geese. He has bragged that the bizarre wall starves them. He defines “harm” such that harm does not include starving them. So in his irresponsible world, deliberately starving beautiful valuable animals does not mean harming them. These flat out lies were crucial in defusing very major public distress at the initial attacks on these beautiful and very popular animals. The continuation of these lies helped everything else.

Corsi sniffed at the grass at the top of the hill and proudly proclaimed he wants to “improve” that.

Corsi gave the impression that destroying the parking lot is a done deal.

Another done deal is the building of a small vehicle highway through the hill area and the area to the west of the hill and connect it to the small vehicle highway built as part of the outrage over the past 13 years.

He says that Cambridge has to take the DCR’s plans now or be placed at the end of the list.

3. Analysis.

The DCR and the City of Cambridge have proven to be beneath contempt over the past 13 years.

The DCR sanctified Master Plan called for a lawn to the river.

The following has been done, all in violation of or not promised in the sanctified master plan or in any other public discussions.

A. The Magazine Beach playing fields have been walled off from the Charles River with a bizarre wall of introduced bushes which have simply been allowed to grow and grow.

Corsi claims confusion. He does not know how to chop down bushes. He has bragged that this bizarre wall starves the Charles River White Geese.

There were two phases of destruction. Phase 1 left a hole through which the Charles River White Geese fed. Phase 2 filled that hole belligerently.

Corsi brags of gross incompetence. That is his excuse. He does not know how to chop down bushes. The DCR everyplace else knows how to chop down bushes.

Accepting such an excuse by the Cambridge Machine reemphasizes the organizational corruption of the Cambridge Machine.

B. They destroyed perfectly good grass which had survived the better part of a century and replaced it with sickly stuff that cannot survive without poisons.

Corsi’s claim of wishing to “improve” the grass in the rest of the Magazine Beach area in this latest phase translates into a determination to replace healthy grass with more of his beloved sickly stuff and with the DCR’s beloved poisons.

Accepting such environmental corruption by the Cambridge Machine reemphasizes the organizational corruption of the Cambridge Machine.

C. They have destroyed significant parts of the playing fields for a complicated drainage system to drain off poisons which are totally unnecessary.

The responsible thing to do is, instead of sewing poisons, sew seed for the grass they destroyed. Then they will be in a position to return the quality of the playing fields to what it was 13 years ago.

Instead, they are sewing more poisons and a need for more drainage.

Accepting such environmental corruption by the Cambridge Machine reemphasizes the organizational corruption of the Cambridge Machine.

D. They have destroyed the boat dock which had been at Magazine Beach for the better part of a century.

The boat dock is still there. It just cannot be accessed. I live in reality. It has been destroyed.

You undo the silly and unexplained barriers, and you have the boat dock.

Accepting such environmental corruption by the Cambridge Machine reemphasizes the organizational corruption of the Cambridge Machine.

E. They have heartless abused the Charles River White Geese.

Part of the sanctified Master Plan calls for killing off all resident animals. That is in their secret definition of parkland.

Pretty much every action done in the past 13 years which could be modified to add to the heartless abuse of the Charles River White Geese has been so modified.

Accepting such environmental corruption by the Cambridge Machine reemphasizes the organizational corruption of the Cambridge Machine.

F. The plans.

“Improving the grass” translates into more sickly grass, more poisons, and more drainage to drain off poisons which should not be dumped there in the first place.

The grass at the top of the hill is clearly and significantly superior to the sickly stuff which has been introduced by the DCR and Cambridge. It has survived in an environmentall responsible manner for the better part of a Century. The presence of that fine grass which does not need poisons puts the lie to the claim of the DCR, Cambridge and the Cambridge Machine that the behavior of the last 13 years is the behavior of a responsible government.

The lovely new highway is part of the DCR’s plans to destroy hundreds of trees between Magazine Beach and the Longfellow Bridge. No highway, no excuse to destroy the trees. This includes the decimation of a lovely 104 tree grove at the Memorial Drive split. Most of the rest of the targeted trees are larger than these excellent trees.

The DCR tried to get Obama money for the tree destruction.

They lied that all the trees they wanted to destroy are diseased. The papers they filed with Cambridge on the project proved that position to be yet another flat out lie.

No money came.

No comment was made by Corsi about extending the bizarre wall. No comment was made about extending expensive drainage to drain off poisons which, of course, were not mentioned.

No denials were made either.

None of this should be done. None of this should be extended. It is silly to think that this corrupt agency would behave in a responsible manner.

Accepting such environmental corruption and heartless abuse of valuable, beautiful animals in the past by the Cambridge Machine reemphasizes the organizational corruption of the Cambridge Machine.

The position of the Cambridge Machine has been that the last 13 years do not exist. Their sanctified friends at the falsely named Charles River “Conservancy” wholeheartedly support and fight for the destruction.

G. Dirty tricks.

Normal. I have better things to do than give a blow by blow of the dirty tricks of the DCR, Cambridge and the Cambridge Machine. As I said, I have been fighting the Cambridge Machine and its various front organizations for 38 years.

4. Machine analysis.

They want to talk to the DCR and get the fine print straight. They could care less about the record of lying, destruction and heartless animal abuse. They want “improvements”.

The Cambridge Machine lives “compromise.” In Cambridge, MA, USA, “compromise” means that the bad guys get to do whatever the bad guys want to do, and the good guys get to declare victory.

After all isn’t that fair?

5. Meeting analysis.

Very skeptical.

The proposed praise and support which was announced at the beginning of the meeting was ignored. Watered down versions were proposed and not voted on.

Final decision was to postpone until next meeting.

Postponing allows the Machine to organize and to create a story to tell to people. It allows the Machine to stack the next meeting with true believers who will obey orders and be oh, so confused. It allows the Machine to wear down people who only wanted to attend one meeting.

6. Overall analysis.

There are major problems in Magazine Beach. Those problems are the irresponsible behavior of the last 13 years.

These problems are exacerbated by the presence of the Cambridge Machine and the very real and very bad record of the Cambridge Machine.

The DCR proposes to extend 13 years of destruction at the playing fields to the area west of the playing fields.

But the area west of the playing fields, except for the really minor situation of the bath house IS BETTER NOW THAN IS THE PLAYING FIELDS.

It is outrageous to try to dot the I’s and cross the T’s to prevent a repetition of 13 years of destruction and animal abuse with an agency which is a proven liar, has proven to add changes without discussion, has a terrible record of dirty tricks, and which wants to keep 13 years of destruction in place.

The responsible thing to do is insist on undoing 13 years of outrages. It is silly to insist that this time an irresponsible agency will suddenly behave responsibly so that you have

A. Responsible new construction next to and in direct conflict with

B. 13 years of outrage.

Such a combination would be bizarre.

Actually, given the irresponsible record, such an option would be worse than bizarre. It would be outrageously silly.

Such an option, however, would fit the record of the Cambridge Machine on its less irresponsible days.

About Me

Sponsored by Friends of the White Geese, Bob La Trémouille, chair/editor. Friends of the White Geese has worked since 2000 and has been a recognized Massachusetts, USA non-profit organization since 2001. Our goal is to defend the environment on the Charles River in Cambridge, MA, USA.